Monday, June 20, 2016

I like to go the natural route whenever I can, so I’ve been playing around a lot with essential oils this year. In a rather fortuitous turn of events, I was sent this lovely kit from Thursday Plantation just weeks after I fell in love with tea tree oil, and I’ve been using it non-stop in all sorts of ways ever since!

Thursday Plantation is an Australian company that sells essential oils (these three key oils, plus smaller aromatherapy oils like rosewood and patchouli), ready-made products (mostly things with tea tree and aloe), and facial oils. I’m just focusing on these three for the moment, but I’m excited to branch out someday… maybe when I’m braver.

The one thing that always kills me about essential oils is how expensive they can be, so it was awesome to see how affordable and high-quality these oils are. They’re 100% pure and packaged in amber glass, and they come in a range of sizes. The eucalyptus oil, which is great for sanitizing things around the house, comes in 100 and 200ml versions as well; the tea tree comes in smaller sizes (perfect if you’re just going to be using it as an acne treatment); and the lavender oil comes in a 50 ml for those of you who want to get really soothed.

(Not me. I’m not here for the soothing at allll.)

Overall, the Thursday Plantation range is more affordable than something like Aura Cacia and more expensive than NOW Solutions, but I prefer it over both: Aura Cacia sells some excellent organic oils, but I find they have trouble with quality control, and NOW Solutions sells really affordable carrier oils, but their more delicate oils can be questionable–their rosehip oil, for instance, is utter crap. Again, I haven’t tried the full Thursday Plantation lineup so my opinion may change someday, but I was very happy with the quality of these!

Thursday Plantation has a 100 Uses for TP campaign going on that’s pretty cool–as you might have guessed, it’s a list of 100 things that you can use these three oils for (sadly not a list of 100 uses for toilet paper), but here are some of my favourites.

Tea tree oil is Thursday Plantation’s big thing, and they do it very well. It’s 100% pure and contains at least 30% more terpinen-4-ol (the part of tea tree oil that makes it germicidal) than is required by international standards, so even a single drop is a very effective antiseptic.

According to Thursday Plantation, tea tree oil “inhibits a broad spectrum of bacteria and fungi […] and does not inhibit normal cell growth,” so it’s safe to use on small cuts and stuff to clean the area without a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Great for treating pimples and bug bites

Treating infections like athlete’s foot or boils

Used as a household cleaner

When diluted (I used 3 drops in 1 cup of filtered water), tea tree makes a very effective alcohol- and mint-free mouthwash. Beware, however: it’s very bitter and not for internal use, so swish and spit!

Helps deodorize things like shoes and surfaces when mixed with a few tablespoons of baking soda

Natural analgesic (like a mild clove oil)

And, finally… I’m NOT a doctor, but I get recurrent yeast infections and the antifungals my doctor was giving me were messing up my gut flora without helping my yeast infections one bit. I’ve been using tea tree oil (1 drop diluted in 1 ml virgin coconut oil to make 3 small suppositories) to treat my yeast infections, and it literally cleared up my season-long yeast infection overnight. If you’re having trouble too, do a little research–for me, using a natural antifungal was a far better option than pharmaceuticals, but I’m just one example!

The verdict + a giveaway!!

I haven’t tried the more delicate oils from the Thursday Plantation range yet, but I was very happy with these three. The quality is great and the brand’s pricing is on par with something like Desert Essence, and I love that Thursday Plantation uses amber glass to keep their oils safe & sound.

In fact, I’ve been getting such great use out of these oils that I wanted to share the love with YOU, so I reached out to Thursday Plantation’s PR firm here in Canada to ask if they had an extra Essentials kit to share with a lucky reader. And guess what? They did!

So, if you want to get your inner DIY maven on, enter using the widget below. This giveaway will be open to Canadian residents over the age of majority (or with parental consent) for two weeks and close at 11:59 PM MST on July 3rd. Good luck!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I don’t have a post ready for you because I keep researching things that I find interesting in my should-be-blogging time.

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(Ahh!! If you switch out the period in that emoticon, you get the face of a tiny, adorable animal!)

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(Maybe it’s a bear or an armadillo or something. Or a tiny sleeping earless puppy.)

Anyhow, I feel sort of bad for doing this because I did another filler post not long ago, but: here, have a pretty picture of Jasika Nicole’s face! (Source.) Fact: all pictures of Jasika Nicole’s face are pretty.

And then there’s this crazy, almost-physics-defying sofa-to-bunkbed contraption! (Here)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

So, I guess I like, went and got really ill and returned to school and started Remicade and blah blah blah, which sort of led to our posting schedule getting shot to hell. (Remember the good old days, when I used to post, like, fifty times in a month?) (… yeah, I don’t remember them too well, either. Everything’s kind of a blur.)

A tangent about… hair

For starters, I went and put a bunch of black lowlights into my hair. Which is exciting! (Be excited, dammit, it’s exciting.) I mean, you’d assume that my hair would already be pretty black to begin with (what with the being Asian thing and all), but it’s actually quite light – light enough that my natural colour is now functioning as highlights.

(Just how light, exactly? Check out my hair in this post – that’s how light.)

I wasn’t sure about it at first, but now I’m certain: I love it. I love it a ridiculous, ridiculous amount. I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner!

A tangent about… closets

And then there was a closet redo. I forgot to take “before” photos, because I’m ridiculous and forgetful, but here’s a quick photo of the “after.” I’ve long been a fan of built-in shelving (it just feels so roomy!) but – well, let’s just say that I’m inordinately pleased with this as well.

(Yes, before you ask, I’m a bit of a clothing minimalist. This is in part due to the fact that I feel uncomfortable about extraneous items, but honestly? It has more to do with the fact that I absolutely abhor shopping.)

A tangent VERY RELEVANT SEGMENT about pretty shoes

One of the things I found while cleaning out my closet was my favourite pair of heels: my “goal shoes,” if you will. One of these days, I’m going to be well enough that I can wear them again, without having to worry about MTP swelling or spinal support or ankle joints.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Normal offices have in boxes, out boxes, plain ol’ boxes… but product junkies and beauty bloggers? We have to get – shall we say – inventive. I mean, you try putting lipsticks into a filing cabinet and keeping everything orderly. It just doesn’t work!

I was recently gifted an absolutely gorgeous bowl (thanks, mom!) and I’ve been giving it a go as a “beauty inbox” – that is, a place where I can put the products I’ve yet to test out & review*. Once I’ve photographed a product, it goes into a drawer to be swatched; once that’s happened, it moves to either the “future box”, the giveaway drawer, or… this!

(Actually, that’s a bit of a lie – sometimes they end up next to my laptop, too. If I’m trying to pressure myself into reviewing something ASAP, it’s easier if it’s constantly in my line of sight!)

*Which is necessary for the sole reason of “I’m prone to being distracted by other pretty, shiny things and forgetting about them.” See also: magpies and attention deficit disorder

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It has occurred to me that I’ve basically just babbled for 160 characters so that I’d have an excuse to post photos of a bowl.

There is something either very, very wrong with this or something very, very right.